Mother Said God Ordered Her To Kill Boys, Sheriff Says

[JQ Public]

Just saw a sad story She needs to be locked up for a good long time!

Sheriff: Texas Woman Said God Told Her To Kill Sons
2 Boys Dead After Being Beaten With A Rock; Youngest Son In Critical Condition

POSTED: 8:00 a.m. EDT May 12, 2003
UPDATED: 2:04 p.m. EDT May 12, 2003

TYLER, Texas -- A woman accused of fatally beating two of her sons with rocks told 911 operators that God ordered her to kill the boys, an East Texas sheriff said Monday.

Deanna Laney Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith told the Dallas Morning News that Deanna Laney (pictured, left) said in her emergency call that she'd bashed her children's heads with a rock. Laney, 38, is being held in a Smith County jail under a suicide watch.

A Texas judge has now issued a gag order -- keeping investigators from talking about the case.

Sheriff's deputies were called to Laney's home early Saturday and found her 8-year-old son, Joshua Keith Laney, and his 6-year-old brother, Luke Allen Laney, dead in the yard, wearing only their underwear. Authorities said they found large rocks on top of the boys.

Laney's 14-month-old son, Aaron James, was alive but bleeding in his crib with a pillow over his face. He is in critical condition at Children's Medical Center in Dallas.

Authorities arrived at the scene after Laney reportedly told a 911 dispatcher, "I've just killed my boys." Deputies said they found her in the woods behind the brick house, in a bloody nightgown.

Smith said she sounded very "matter of fact." He said it was like someone calling for a pizza delivery.

Smith described the family as "stable" and said the mother had no history of taking any drugs for any mental illnesses. He said Laney's husband is in a state of shock.

The sheriff said the woman sometimes lies in a fetal position and cries in her jail cell. At other times, she walks around praying or singing gospel songs.

District Judge Kerry Russell set bond at $3 million.

Joshua Laney, 8, Luke Laney, 6, and Aaron Laney, 14 months Authorities say the woman's husband, Keith Laney, appeared to have just awoken when deputies arrived.

Smith told the CBS Morning Show that Laney told sheriff's deputies where to find the bodies but would not go herself, adding that the bodies were located 19 feet apart with rocks placed on their chests. He said they appeared to be landscaping rocks.

"She had evidently beaten them to death with a rock, led them out of the house one at a time, and killed the children," he said.

http://www.wral.com/news/2196442/detail.html

[Amanzi]

I battle to believe there are people in this world who can actually do such horrific things

[Rainband]

Very sad I cannot imagine why she would do this....

[Skywatch_NC]

Very sad indeed.

[Lindaloo]

This is the same type case that happened a few years back where a Texas woman killed her children then pleaded insanity to the murder charges. And let's not forget Susan Smith who killed her children by strapping them into their car seats and letting the car go into a lake. This type of thing goes on everyday but does not make the media play.

Just had one "Mommy" convicted last week of starving her children to death. But the DHS (Dept. of Human Services) knew about this and did nothing to protect the children. The state of MS is investigating this because it came out during the trial.

[Cyclone]

How can you possibly imagine such cruelty... I mean... What in the world goes on in these people’s minds?

Unbelievable.

[mf_dolphin]

I can't understand what goes through these parents minds. It certainly wasn't God...

[pojo]

I can't understand why a mother would go that that stockade! That is purely disgusting and gruesome!

[JetMaxx]

That is so sad...and that woman (I can't even call her a mother...she gave that right up) is SO SICK!

The Lord I serve is a God of love and peace that's teaching say "Blessed are the children"; this evil woman doesn't serve or listen to him -- she listened instead to satan, and blamed it on God.

[thumper]

This is just another show of how sick people can really be. Everyday I think we have reached the lowest point of sickness and stupidity and somebody goes and does something like this and lowers the bar even lower. It is really disgusting how some people can be.

[Stephanie]

It is a very sad story - and like Jetmax said, the woman is obviously very ill. Noone in their right mind would do something like that.

[streetsoldier]

Just my own observations here, but look again at her face...the "flat affect", betraying no emotions at all, plus her actions in custody....fetal position, crying, alternating with long hours of prayer and Gospel singing.

She is insane, no doubt...but IMHO, she is also a product of an abusive, repressive pseudo-Christian home, and this influence has gone for years unaddressed or treated. Culpable under law? YES! But, there's more to her than meets the untrained eye.

[Stephanie]

You're absolutely right Bill.

[JQ Public]

Wow this story is getting a lot of coverage. I guess you can't judge a book by its cover, but looking at some of the pictures of her and even her in the courtroom...i wouldn't even imagine her doing such a thing!

[ColdFront77]

This is similar in some ways to the Andrea Yates case. Her husband Rusty Yates was on Larry King Live last night.

[Skywatch_NC]

Just my own observations here, but look again at her face...the "flat affect", betraying no emotions at all, plus her actions in custody....fetal position, crying, alternating with long hours of prayer and Gospel singing.

She is insane, no doubt...but IMHO, she is also a product of an abusive, repressive pseudo-Christian home, and this influence has gone for years unaddressed or treated. Culpable under law? YES! But, there's more to her than meets the untrained eye.

Bill, what do you mean by the term pseudo-Christian? Just curious...

[GulfBreezer]

Mental illness will do this! Those poor babies! Susan Smith was about as mentally ill as the Pope, she killed those babies for a man and that should be punished severely!! When anyone kills and blames it on God or say that HE told them to do it, they are insane! The thing I find hard to believe in all this is that the husband didn't see any signs of his wife's instabilty. There had to be SOMETHING!

I will keep those children and the family in my prayers

[streetsoldier]

Eric,

I've seen far more than my share of abused adults who were raised in a home in which the Bible, or more commonly, certain selected passages thereof, was used as a cover-all to "justify" repeated beatings/whippings, social isolation/in-home imprisonment, food deprivation, etc. FAR beyond healthy, judicious discipline...in not a few cases, the person was also told repeatedly that "God doesn't (or can't) love you", "You are a demon", "You are not worthy of having me as your mother/father", etc. to elicit the responses desired by the abusive parent. There is more, but THIS is what I mean by "pseudo-Christian".

As to this woman's husband finding no "signs", abused adults usually have learned very early in life to mask their feelings...the least facial or gestural sign of anger at the abuser would only bring down more horrors upon this person as a child...and such people have this technique, a defensive one, so well ingrained that their true feelings can't be discerned even after the original reasons are long past.

[TexasStooge]

God would not tell her to kill her kids, I think she did it herself, and only herself.